Exclusive scoops & insider gossip by Gerson Borrero

No Kumbaya moment for new Speaker

The crowning of the next Speaker of the New York City Council may be a done deal, but don’t expect the kumbaya moment that Democratic power brokers have scripted to go smoothly. “Oh, hell no. We’re not all on board,” a well connected bochinchero from Brooklyn County told me last night. The activist bochinchero - who’s very close to Inez and Charles Barron - assured me that they [the Barrons] “will not let the five Democratic County leaders, led by Boss Joe Crowley along with the majority of the 51 New York City Council members anoint Corey Johnson as the next Speaker of the municipal legislature on Wednesday.” That’s mañana, January 3, at noon in the City Council Chamber.

B&B has been told that Councilmember Inez Barron (42nd District), who entered the race a week ago - after the deal for Corey Johnson (3rd District) had been arduously brokered - will challenge and denounce the “plantation politics” system prevalent in the process. “Inez will be speaking for all to hear how our time has been denied by the white male dominated political structure,” the interlocutor bochinchero said, adding, “we have our own to deal with - the ones that are playing along so they can get to chair committees in the Council.”

Out of the eight original wannabes running for Speaker, three are African American (Robert Cornegy, Jr., Jumanee Williams and Donovan Richards, Jr.), two are Latino (Ydanis Rodríguez and Ritchie Torres), and three are white (Jimmy Van Bramer, Mark Levine and Corey Johnson).

An insider bochinchero who is familiar with the discontent that percolates the indignation with the process denounced it even more candidly to B&B: “our own folks are acting like the House Negroes that Malcolm described.” The reference by the offended bochinchero is to the famous speech delivered by Malcolm X at Michigan State University on January 23,1963 in which he describes the difference between the "house Negro" and the "field Negro." The latter were the masses, while the former in the minority and constantly working to please his white masters.

So, for those who were betting on a pro forma procedure to occur when the formal vote for the Speaker is taken tomorrow, I suggest you buckle up, it appears the ride is going to get uncomfortable...